Hedge Funds Buying Sugar To Alleviate Boredom

Wall Street’s developed an epic sweet tooth over the last few months, gorging on sucrose like nobody's business. The resulting sugar high has seen hedge funds bid up the price of white stuff futures by nearly 40%—way more than anyone’s actually paying for sugar. And why? Well, because it’s something to do, basically.

The price swings are also a testament to investors’ tendency at a time of easy money and low investment returns to crowd into markets deemed to provide an opportunity for profitable trading….

“We’re seeing a new array” of traders entering the sugar market, lured by its growing size and heightened volatility, said Jeff Dobrydney, vice president at Jenkins Sugar Group, a sugar broker in Norwalk, Conn. Investors “are taking advantage of a market that’s actually moving.”